So it’s been over two months and about 7500 km with the car. The experience has been a very good one indeed, so far. The car provides a smooth commute as always and has been functioning very well. There hasn’t been any niggles except for some slight squeaks from the gearbox area as mentioned in the previous updates, which has now been fixed.
The “new” Ford Taurus was just launched last year as a 2010 model, but the American carmaker is already showing a facelifted 2013 model at the 2011 New York Auto Show, with new engines and cabin tech.
Ford is one of the leading global carmakers who were struck hard by recession, forcing them to exercise business process reengineering and adopt new business strategies. Consequently, the car manufacturer who used to produce nothing more than some fuel hogging, unreliable metal crap now manufacture cars that make the leading players sweat hard – that is the tale of the American Ford. The Blue Oval exists in the European region with an entirely different face, boasting a lineup with such commendable levels of quality and reliability that has always put the Americans in infinite envy. Except for the damage caused by the reputation of the products from American Ford,
Recalls are boring news. They’re in fact so boring that we only cover them once in a while now. The number of recalls per month has actually reduced since the last time we did a rundown, by about 35%. Of course, the general media still chooses to sensationalise some recalls more than others, especially anything to do with Toyota. In the past two months, there have been recalls by Lexus, Land Rover, General Motors, Ford, Honda, Suzuki, Chrysler, Saab and even Mazda, the last of which is a hilarious one.
So it’s been just over a month and over 3700 km with the Mondeo -– time flew by and so did the odo readings in the Mondeo, accounted for by just one long drive through Kalba, Khorfakkan, Dibba, Masafi and Dhaid last weekend, and a vast majority of the rest accounted for by my routine commute between my home in Sharjah and my office opposite Dubai Media City.
The 2011 Ford Mustang GT, the 2010 Dodge Challenger and the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS all have three things in common. All three are retro-styled Americans, all three are V8-powered muscle cars, and all three have more than 400 horses. Each. This comparo has been a long time coming. Everyone else has already done their armchair evaluations, simply comparing manufacturer figures, snapping a few photos and calling it a day. It took us a spread of six months to be able to drive all three of these direct competitors. We have neither the time nor the resources to pull in all three cars together.
Ford’s Conservation and Environmental Grants section yesterday awarded money to two projects from the UAE aimed at the preservation of UAE’s coral reefs and the fight against the illegal trade of animals in the region. Anyone who applies for these ‘green’ grants is eligible to have their project looked at by a panel of environmental experts. We also brought up the topic of electric cars.
So far, there are no problems with my 2008 Ford Mondeo. There are slight squeaks coming in from around the centre console, although it is barely noticeable when compared to my previous Mazda 6 and is not intrusive. I had spent more time in city traffic this time which explains the increased fuel consumption. I have spent Dhs 338 dhs for fuel since I bought it and have covered over 1900 km, of which about 75% was spent on the UAE’s highways. Still very happy driving it. It is a very comfortable car.
It’s a busy world. People are in a race with time to be as ahead as possible in every aspect they can think of. There is hardly any time for anyone; and given the situation, people want the best in life; by saying best in life, I mean whatever that can make life easier and to be at ease. And such things include, for an instance, mobile phones which are capable of replacing one’s alarm clock, calendar, organizer, netbook, music players, video players, navigation systems and what not, besides serving the basic purpose of a phone and thus eliminating the need of having so many things at a time.
Al Tayer Motors and Premier Motors, the UAE’s Ford dealers, have been appointed the official UAE dealers for ROUSH products, and their first offering is ‘The Shamal’, also known as the 2011 Roush Mustang.